Really love how short this novel is and how it shows two different perspectives to tell the story and unravel the truth. Highly recommend especially if in a reading slump, I finished this in a day.

Brilliantly written, intriguing novel. Excellently written characters. Couldn’t get enough of this book.

Oooh I really enjoyed this! Thank you to @netgalley and @verve_books for a copy of this.

This was a such an easy read. You get sucked in straightaway to Margo’s dark and sinister thoughts and quickly discover details of her old life as nurse. This gives serial killer nurse vibes who got away. You are on the edge of your seat wondering what she is going to do next, because it’s clear that although Margo has made a new life and identity for herself, the darkness and death obsession still lurks prevalently inside.

When Patricia shows up, both women are highly suspicious of the other. The book is short and intense and the atmosphere that the writing creates leaves you as a reader highly anticipating every single page.

The ending was brilliant too, and not what I expected.

An enjoyable book, unfolds nicely and the characters develop as it goes. The ending is slightly over the top but on the whole a satisfying story with many different characters who all develop as the story goes. I would recommend.

A strangely dark story set in the mundane yet magical land of a library. With our main narrators showing the strange world that is made in the shelves of books, slowly changing from a normal story about daily life into something that makes you want to look over your shoulder.

"I look up at Margo. Jane Rivers. Tenderness sweeps over me at the sight of her adding a book to the holds shelf. My very own murderous nurse."

When English graduate and failed novelist Patricia takes a job as a librarian in a small town, she's looking for a fresh start. She immediately feels drawn to her colleague, Margo, a middle-aged, charming woman loved by the library's patrons.

There is no way for Patricia to know that Margo is not who she says she is. In fact, Margo isn't even her real name. Margo is a former nurse who left a trail of dead patients in her wake and is wanted by police. But when Patricia discovers this it doesn't put her off. She's intrigued to the point where she once again wants to pick up her pen.

The plot of this suspense novel is described as a cat-and-mouse thriller but to be honest, I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked to. I thought Margo could have been even darker, which would have upped the stakes for Patricia. And I didn't buy into Patricia's justifications for not reporting Margo when she discovers who Margo really is.

The 'game' between Margo and Patricia also doesn't last very long. If it had done so, the tension could have been sustained for longer. I also never felt like Patricia was under threat from Margo, something that yet again led to a lack of tension and me not really caring how the story ends. I didn't find the ending very satisfying either. A twist in the tale might have helped with that.

A popcorn thriller that's ultimately forgettable.

I found this novel to be quite engaging, particularly due to the dynamic interplay of observation and suspicion between the protagonists. Although it fits within the thriller genre, it focuses more on character exploration than on fast-paced action.

The dual narrative structure works exceptionally well, showcasing how the two women view and judge each other. Margo, burdened with a hidden past, feels threatened by Patricia, the self-assured and stylish new librarian. On the flip side, Patricia, secretly anxious, worries that Margo's perceptiveness will expose her insecurities. This dynamic quickly transforms Margo into Patricia's unwitting inspiration for her writing.

However, despite the intriguing characters and plot, the pacing was sometimes slow, which made parts of the book feel laborious.

Overall, it was a good read, interesting character study with plenty going on throughout. The slower pacing and lack of plot made it so it didn’t quite reach my list of favourites.

The story a nurse now working in a library after too many suspicious deaths. When new girl Patricia joins, she starts to notice the nurses odd behavior.

I found this novel and incredibly quick read and very similar to Alice Slaters Death of a Bookseller (which isn't a bad thing) I do think the ending was a bit rushed and I would have like more interaction between the main 2 characters. But it was engrossing and the characters were incredibly well written and the plot moved swiftly!

An incredibly macabre story set in a library with a woman who reinvents Herself after moving to the new town. She is strange, formidable and powerful.

Who she is and why she’s there is discovered by her new coworker, who sees beyond the surface and decides to probe more deeply into her background.
If you love libraries, you will love this book.
Dark and compelling, and I loved it
Thanks to #NetGalley For the opportunity to have read this ahead of publication and exchange for an honest review. Five stars.

This little book didn’t half pack a punch. It was utterly bonkers but in a good way. I couldn’t put it down.

I really enjoyed the secret world of a librarian and how never to assume a person is meek and mild. Margot/Jane was anything but! I actually loved her for it although I will never return a library book late again.

The dual narrative works to enhance the story and I enjoyed hearing Patricia’s perspective.

A fun novel that was nothing like I expected!

In a similar vein to Sims' first book, Looker, there is a slightly odd female character with dark undertones at the centre of the story, It is a tale about two women who find employment in a library by means of a new start. One used to be a nurse, but for reasons we merely suspect, had to leave the hospital, change her name and address and escape her past life. The other woman is giving up on her aspirations of being a novelist, so leaves her boyfriend and home in order to forge a new career.

​The story is told through the perspectives of the two women and it is interesting to see the same scene through different eyes. The former nurse is loud and flamboyant and revels in her new persona. The other woman has the sharp observational and research skills of a novelist and begins to watch her colleague in great detail. Both are great characters, as are the array of clientele who regularly frequent at the library, which is treated a bit like a homeless shelter as I imagine all libraries are to a certain extent.

The book is well written and shows a fascinating insight to the running of a library and the many roles it serves in the community. It is a rather creepy read as the characters are darkly likable in a warped obsessive way. An unusual psychological thriller; thoroughly enjoyable.
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A short but entertaining story about Margo and Patricia, both librarians with a big secret. We meet Margo first and soon it is clear that she’s not Margo at all, she’s someone else, and she’s seeking shelter in the old library building as much as having to have a job. Later, the library staff is joined by Patricia, who actually studied to be a librarian, but she doesn’t want to be one in real life.
As soon as they meet, they both feel there is a strange bond between them – how strange, we read in alternating chapters in which some of the story behind the two women is revealed. The end is almost inevitable although a bit disappointing because it feels somewhat rushed.

I liked the descriptions of the old building and the regular patrons, and I can imagine it being a very fulfilling workplace (well, I practically lived in our local library from the time my father took me there when I was about four years old, until I moved to another town – I never found a more interesting one).

I would have loved for this book a little longer, with more background information about Margo and Patricia, but all in all it was enjoyable.

Thanks to Verve Books and Netgalley for this review copy.

I had a lot of fun reading this novel, experiencing both main characters engaging in a dance of observation and suspicion. While it does fall into the thriller genre, it's more character study than action-packed plot.

The use of the dual POVs in this book is great, as we see how the two women perceive each other and the presumptions they make about one another. Margo, the older of the two with a whole secret life behind her, is initially intimidated by the tall and glamorous new reference librarian, Patricia, who seems to exude confidence from her first day. However, on the other side, a panicked Patricia believes that Margo's sharp eyes have seen through her facade. Quickly, Margo unknowingly becomes the aspiring writer's muse.

I would recommend for fans of:
Books about Unhinged Women
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

How Can I Help You is a quick but creepy read about two women who work in a small town library.

Margo is running away from her previous life as an angel-of-death nurse and Patricia is running away from her failed career as an author and an unsatisfactory big city relationship. The women strike up an odd friendship but the secrets soon become dangerous.

A recommended read for lovers of psychological thrillers.

On the surface, this book may seem calm, but start scratching around and you soon realise this is a dark, gripping novel about obsession and pretences. We start the book with Margo - though we know this is not her real name - an ex-nurse who is now working at a library. She's got a lot of secrets - but when a new staff member, Patricia, starts, Margo feels very taken with her - a feeling which soon turns sour...

How Can I Help You is a slow-burning thriller which incorporates sinister people who seem, on the surface, pretty normal - but not entirely normal! I enjoyed reading about how both Margo and Patricia hid their secrets from those around them, but it becomes clear that people are starting to pick up on something not being right. I love an unreliable, odd protagonist and Margo is certainly that - and we also see chapters from Patricia's perspective too, never being quite sure who is more of a danger to the other! I loved the underlying tension that runs throughout this novel and found it a gripping read despite the fairly slow pace.

The book then concludes in a dramatic and satisfying way as the pace picks up. I really enjoyed this dark novel and definitely want to read more now by Laura Sims.

Margo has started a new life – she’s moved to a new town and has a new job working in the Library - but when she lets slip a little too much about her previous life to new starter Patricia, a game of cat and mouse begins…

I really enjoyed How Can I Help You and was fully gripped, powering through the pages to find out what would happen next. The book starts from the perspective of Margo, a jolly lady working at the town Library with a loud laugh and funny stories. However, Margo is hiding a big secret about her previous identity. The book then switches perspectives to new starter Patricia and alternates between the two of them throughout. This narrative technique worked really well, and you got one side of the story from Margo and then a completely different perspective from Patricia. It was great to see the small behaviours that would be read one way by paranoid Margo and then the innocent explanation from Patricia.

It's a well plotted booked and paced to perfection, with tension that really ramps up to the action-packed finale. Margo’s character is so creepy, down to the obsession with having baths and her compulsion to set items on fire to calm herself down. There are hints to her childhood in here as well as details from the past which slowly reveal themselves until you get a true picture of her. As she’s the first POV you are introduced to, you actually find yourself rooting for her over Patricia at some points which just shows the depth of Laura Sims’ writing.

Overall, How Can I Help You is a creepy and compelling read that I just couldn’t put down. Thank you to NetGalley and Verve Books for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read about this recently and remembered I had an ARC - so I dove right in!

This is a first-person story from two viewpoints: Margo, aka Jane Rivers, who has left her nursing job to work in a small Illinois library. And Patricia - a high-flying Chicagoan who has left the city to start over as a reference librarian alongside Margo.

Here, we read Margo’s sociopathic/psychopathic story of how she got great pleasure from ending the lives of patients in her job as a nurse. When her crimes were discovered, she left town and moved hundreds of mile away. The draw to murder is still there, such is what happens when there is an altercation with Julia, a patron of the library, and later - Friday Man. Patricia picks up on Margo’s story and as a failed writer, she realises she can tell the tale of what her colleague has done - which a how she spends her working days, somewhat perplexingly.

Towards the end, things take drastic turn when Margo steals the notebook and tries to burn it. Patricia gets it back but not before she murders Margo.

The two viewpoints are interesting and the prose is quite well-executed. However, there are some extremely implausible parts to the story:

-I am not sure why Patricia would have let her much valued notebook for Margo to steal it. I really don’t think she would have done this. Also, why would Margo lock it away only to retrieve it minutes later.

-Margo’s murder of Friday Man is short-sighted, and probably quite impossible, in terms of getting him into the skip.

-I am not sure what Patricia expects to achieve with the book as it is evidence she knew about Margo and should have reported this.

This is creepy and disturbing but also not that believable. But - thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I found this an enjoyable, well written, psychological study of two women; Margo, a nurse who has changed her name and career and who has many secrets and Patricia, the newest team member who shows an interest in finding out more about Margo.

The library setting is inspired and the book hums with friction between the two characters. It’s a sort, tightly told tale and I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and VERVE books for the opportunity to preview.

Oh this is a dark but fun read. Small and perfectly formed Margo is the newest staff member at the Carlyle Public Library and it starts with flashes into Margo's previous roles before. As a nurse, and with another identity. Totally giving Lucy Letts vibes you are peeling back what seems to be a sadistic streak that is being carried on in the library. When a graduate starts at the library and starts asking questions and digging around she finds out more than she bargained for in Margo's dark past. A quick tense read, and I love the multiple points of view.

I didn’t really know what to expect from this book and I loved its creepy feel. The character development and writing was so good that I felt like I was looking down on the whole thing playing out beneath me!

Librarian Margot Finch gave me part Eleanor Oliphant vibes, in terms of her almost obsessive efficiency and her home routines, but also a bit of Joe Goldberg, in how she obsesses over certain library patrons - or are they patients?

When failed writer Patricia joins the staff, the two woman both become strangely fascinated with each other and when a patron is found dying in the bathroom, Margot’s creepy behaviour leads Patricia to need to know more and thus, a deadly cat and mouse game ensues.

A brilliant read!

4.5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Laura Sims and Verve for an ARC in return for an honest review.